Over 8,000 people packed into a Stockton Park to mark its grand reopening.

Just days ago the £225,000 state-of-the-art playground at Ropner Park was officially opened to the public.

The grand opening of the new climbing frames, slides and swings attracted proved a huge success.

The play area also includes a pavilion and even a cafe, which is to be staffed by volunteers and will be open on Sundays between 10am and 4pm.

Now cafe manager Craig Adamson is calling on people to get behind the park.

He said: "We really are trying to encourage anyone and everyone to get involved with Ropner Park in some small way.

"So far we have recruited 20 volunteers to help with the cafe but more are needed.

"To be able to open on Saturdays, Sundays and the occasional bank holiday means we need to have a pool of about 60 people each willing to do about two to three hours on a monthly basis."

Work was completed on the play area in the middle of September.

But it had only previously been open to local primary schools as a thank you to children who helped design it.

Speaking as it was finally opened to the public, Margaret Hope, chair of the Friends of Ropner Park, said the visitor numbers were close to those at the park's official opening in 1893. "I've never seen Ropner Park so busy," she said.

"It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying themselves.

"We opened it to the primary school children as a thank you for helping us design the playground.

"They put a lot of hard work into it," she added.

* Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Craig on 07017 415814 or at